Leatherman Tools backs Kerry

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[Republican Extremist]

No more Leatherman tools for me!

Top Business Leaders from the Outdoor Industry Endorse Kerry-Edwards Tuesday September 14, 2:24 pm ET The Health of the Great American Outdoors is at Stake

OREGON CITY, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2004--Senior executives from leading outdoor manufacturers, retailers and associations across the country gathered today to endorse Senator John Kerry for President and Senator John Edwards for Vice President. They announced their endorsement at a press conference with Senator John Edwards at Clackamus Community College in Oregon City, Oregon. "We have come together to endorse Senators Kerry and Edwards because they share our values and goals," said Lee Fromson, president of Seattle-based Cascade Designs, Inc., a leading manufacturer of outdoor equipment. "And we are here today because the Great American Outdoors is in serious jeopardy and if we fail at protecting the outdoors then our businesses will fail, our health will fail and we will leave future generations with air they can't breathe and water they can't drink."

Remarks by Senator John Edwards and Cascade Design's Lee Fromson carried common themes:

We must clean up the air we breathe and the water we drink or the health of all Americans will suffer We must provide more venues and opportunities for outdoor recreation for the 150 million Americans who actively enjoy outdoor recreation We must treasure our national parks for recreation and not the industries that mine them for treasure We must lower health care costs to stay in business. This is true for all businesses not just our own. "Our national parks are severely under-funded resulting in rampant understaffing, site closures, eliminated visitor education programs, neglected cultural and natural resource preservation and unsafe trails," said Peter Bragdon, vice president and general counsel of Columbia Sportswear. "Protecting our parks and open space is essential to the health of my business, the outdoor industry at large and to the many States whose economies depend upon tourism and recreation, not to mention the millions upon millions of Americans who enjoy the Great American Outdoors each year."

"Health care is the hardest decision I have to make each year as a business owner," said Paul Fish, president of Mountain Gear in Spokane, WA. "I want to provide my employees and their families with quality care but the cost of doing so weakens the very business we are trying to build together."

Executives attending today's event included: Lee Fromson, president, Cascade Designs, Inc.(Seattle, WA); Peter Bragden, vice president, general counsel, Columbia Sportswear (Portland, Oregon); Menno Van Wyk, CEO Montrail (Seattle, WA); Paul Fish, president Mountain Gear (Spokane, WA); Carn Nielsen, vice president, Mountain Gear (Spokane, WA); Dan Nordstrom, CEO Outdoor Research (Seattle, WA); Jeff Bowman, vice president, Cascade Designs, Inc. (Seattle, WA); Doug Phillips, president, Metolius Climbing (Bend, OR); Tim Leatherman, president, Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. (Portland, OR); Dunham Gooding, president, American Alpine Institute, Ltd (Bellingham, WA); Brian Bennett, national accounts manager, Patagonia (Ventura, CA)

Outdoor businesses depend on abundant and available recreation opportunities so their customers can enjoy outdoor activities. In return, outdoor businesses employ over a million Americans, contribute $18 billion to the U.S. economy and work closely together to promote an active and healthy lifestyle to the 149 million Americans who enjoy the great American outdoors.

September 14, 2004

Dear Fellow Americans:

We are business leaders in the outdoor industry and we have come together because we can no longer be silent. Outdoor businesses depend on abundant and available recreation opportunities so our customers can enjoy outdoor activities. In return, outdoor businesses employ over a million Americans, contribute $18 billion to the U.S. economy and work together to promote an active and healthy lifestyle to the 149 million Americans who love the great American outdoors.

In our opinion increasing the number of venues for active outdoor recreation, staunchly protecting the environment, bolstering recreation and conservation funding to our public land agencies and reducing health care costs go hand-in-hand. They are essential for the health and well being of the outdoor industry and its customers.

Senators John Kerry and John Edwards share our values and goals. They know that promoting active outdoor recreation promotes good health. They know that proactively protecting and supporting public lands for recreational use means future generations will enjoy them too. They know that improving the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink is not negotiable for any industry or business in America. They know that health care costs will continue to increase unless we are united in reducing obesity in America.

John Kerry and John Edwards are committed to preserving our national parks for the benefit of current and future generations. President Bush has promoted policies that break that commitment and endanger the future sustainability of our national parks. President Bush's policies have severely under-funded our national parks resulting in rampant understaffing, site closures, elimination of visitor education programs and neglected cultural and natural resource preservation, demonstrating indifference towards unsafe trails, unclear facilities and the growing shortage of safety staff.

As importantly, the Bush administration has rolled back basic environmental protections that undermine parks including:

Rolling back Clean Air Act requirements that ensure visibility and healthy visits to our national parks; Eliminating federal protections for our public lands that will allow mining, logging and development in national forests; Slashing the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which enables the National Park Service to acquire new land and protect and enhance existing parks facilities. In contrast John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan to protect the scenic landscapes and vistas for the appreciation of future generations through rigorous enforcement of clean air and water regulations and will preserve the resources that embody our cultural heritage through committed funding for parks operations by:

Increasing the operating budget of the National Park Service by $600 million will put our parks back on the path toward recovery and restoration. We will pay for this important objective by modernizing the sale of mineral rights and using the revenue generated to increase the operating budgets of our national parks. We know that Senator Kerry is a champion on the environmental issues that are central to our industry and customers. We also believe that Senator Kerry's economic and health care policies will keep our businesses competitive and health care affordable.

Therefore, we the undersigned are proud to endorse Senator Kerry as the next President of the United States.

Sincerely,

Lee Fromson, president, Cascade Designs (Seattle, WA)

Peter Bragden, vice president, general counsel, Columbia Sportswear (Portland, Oregon)

Menno Van Wyk, CEO, Montrail (Seattle, WA)

Paul Fish, president, Mountain Gear (Spokane, WA)

Carn Nielsen, vice president, Mountain Gear (Spokane, WA)

Dan Nordstrom, CEO, Outdoor Research (Seattle, WA)

Jeff Bowman, vice president, Cascade Designs (Seattle, WA)

Doug Phillips, president, Metolius Climbing (Bend, OR)

Tim Leatherman, president, Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. (Portland, OR)

Dunham Gooding, president, American Alpine Institute, Ltd (Bellingham, WA)

Larry Harrison, president, Earth Games (San Clemente, CA)

Jim Clark, CEO, Watermark (Arcata, CA)

Steve Barker, CEO, Eagle Creek Travel Gear (San Diego, CA)

Peter Metcalf, CEO, Black Diamond (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Ashley Korenblat, president, Western Spirit Cycling (Moab, Utah)

Mike Wallenfels, vice president, Mountain Hardware (Richmond, CA)

Roody Rasmussen, CEO, Petzl America (Clearfield, UT)

Tony Post, president, Vibram (Concord, MA)

Kelly Stone, director sales and marketing, Werner Paddles (Seattle, WA)

Joe Hyer, president, Alpine Experience (Olympia, WA)

Mike Sullivan, president, Sullivan Agency (Wimberley, TX)

Bob Olsen, president, Peregrine Outfitters (Williston, VT)

Michael Crooke, CEO, Patagonia (Ventura, CA)

Brian Bennett, director national accounts, Patagonia (Ventura, CA)

Adam Forest, managing partner, The Forest Group (Lotus, CA)

Gordon Seabury, president, Horny Toad Activewear (Santa Barbara, CA)

Paul Gagner, vice president, Gregory Mountain Products (Temecula, CA)

Tom Campion, founder and chairman, Zumiez Inc. (Everett, WA)

Malcolm Daly, president, Trango (Boulder, CO)

Rodney Smith, president, American Outdoor Products (Boulder, CO)

Joan Keller, president, Le Travel Store (San Diego, CA)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact: For Cascade Designs, Inc. Martha Keeley, 978-468-8961

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Cascade Designs, Inc.

Phone: (503) 253-7826 Toll Free: (800) 847-8665 Fax: (503) 253-7830 Warranty E-mail: toolwarranty@leatherman.com General E-mail: mktg@leatherman.com

[arkady_renko]

Look at your big box type outdoor stores and you'll see a bunch of this stuff. Bass Pro Shop or Gander Mountain both sell Petzl headlamps. Great lamps - made by the French and now sold by a US distributor that puts land use over baby abuse (aka abortion). Black Diamond is placing their lamps there too, I believe.

Sort of strange since they both are based in Salt Lake City which I would think is fairly conservative. Oh, I forgot. They moved there for the tax breaks...

A_R

[Sonar5]

My Knife is a Gerber, my sons knife is a Smith & Wesson...

[jocon307]

"...all the clean air in the world ain't gonna do you a bit of good if the world is overrun with the followers of Mad Mo (piss be upon his head) and you're dead."

LOL, good play on PBUH! LOL!

[Sthitch]

With all of those jacket makers listed, I am sure happy that I wear North Face.

[Redcloak]

For those of you looking for a replacement, the Gerber tool is much nicer than the Leatherman. It doesn't bite into your fingers when you use the pliers. You can also open and close it one-handed.

[Malsua]

Cheese the letter H and some Rice.

I direct some dollars at my company and approve purchases under 1 thousand.

No more Leatherman products...of which, I approved probably 500 bucks a year. Small numbers...Eff 'em.

[conservativecorner]

I will put this on my favs so that I can spend my money elsewhere.

[hotshu]

Are these the oh so chic POS "universal" tools that look like pliers with dingleberries hanging off the handles?

I've never been a fan of any "tool" that tries to serve the needs of multiple jobs while satisfying the requirements of none.

[Boazo]

[yarddog]

I read an article in Outdoor Life in the 60's which said something like, "I think tools should be kept in a toolbox, not in a knife".

It sounded sort of cool and I used to think those using them were tenderfoots.

Then I got my first Swiss Army knife. A "Tinker" model and realized just how handy they can be. I did a 180 change in my opinion regarding multi-tools. They really are useful. BTW, CDNN investments was selling a roughly $70 dollar Wenger model for only $9.99 with any order awhile back. I bought several at that price.

[zip]

I guess this idiot's logic is as follows: because paying his health care is expensive, he wants John Kerry to get the government to pay for it with socialized health care instead.

It's the lefts' cradle to grave policy, gimme, gimme. You nailed it.

[joesnuffy]

Gerber and Buck knives aren't on the list....
Neither is Lowe Alpine
Eureka tents aren't either...

Cant believe REI isnt on the list.....must be mistake there

[zip]

I would like to point out to Mr.Fish that the President proposed a plan that would allow small businesses to band together in order to buy affordable insurance for their workers.

Good point but this group of leftists will parrot the dim's talking points no matter what. Pathetic

[Mobilemitter]

I have two, one from the late 80's (original design) and one of their later models (wave). In the past they have replaced them with no charge under their warranty. Now I plan to send them the following note: "Sorry, we are not encouraged to express our political views on the job and since your company has actively endorsed an anti-American socialist movement I am melting your products down into round balls and sending them to your candidate(who obviously needs some). There are many other choices for replacement tools which are comparable in both quality and price and are not politically affiliated with any party or movement."

Signed, American worker and former customer (since 1988)

[Dan C]

I just sent them my email telling them I'm tossing mine in the garbage and will buy any future multi-tools from companies that don't pander to people like Kerry.

[ASOC]

SOG tools.

Never cared for Leatherman - always used SOG.

Got my son (USMC FAST) an EOD tool B4 he went to Baghdad - the cap crimper is the bob-diggity, works every time.

[BooBoo1000]

Isn't it too bad, that a good company, has to let some desk jockey ruin it for everyone. I used to buy from three to five Leatherman tools, every Christmas, they made great gifts. Gerber, and Buck will be getting the business now. It is tragic, that some idiot, gets into a place of importance, that make a stupid statement like the one made by Leatherman,.

[ASOC]

Good companies are hurt, and thier workers are hurt all of the time by some dumba$$ at the top - witness Enron, etc.

I just have never liked the Leatherman products. The USAF issued me one and I gave it back, just too flimsy for my taste. SOG pocket toolkit is what I carry. Tho I might just buy myself a SOG EOD tool, just too cool and very well put together.

Have fun, if Kerry wins, they will tax that as well.

[holyscroller]

"Come to think of it isn't the Costco CEO Sinegal a Dem too?"

He sure is, of the rabid foaming-at-the-mouth variety. Go to Open Secrets.org (www.opensecrets.org) and type in 98027 (Sinegal's and Costco's home office zip code) and look at the page after page of maximum contributions to every Dumbocrat hack under the sun. Jeff Brotman, Costco Chairman also gave to the max. Do a second search for Costco, and you'll see the company is infested with Dems. (And they are ALL heavy Dem contributors.)

[Bonaparte]

I own a leatherman wave with adaptor kit and I like it. But I have since looked at the Swiss Army tool (comparably priced) and I like it a bit better.